


how the kingdom lights shined

by anightingale



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Ahsoka at Padmé's funeral, F/M, Gen, Minor Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-15
Updated: 2017-09-15
Packaged: 2018-12-30 02:32:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12098760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anightingale/pseuds/anightingale
Summary: After the events of Order 66, a confused Ahsoka hears about Padmé's death and travels to Naboo to attend her funeral, all the while unsure about what happened to Anakin.





	how the kingdom lights shined

**Author's Note:**

> This is a headcanon that after Order 66 happened, Ahsoka heard about Padmé's death and realised that if Anakin had survived the Purge he would definitely find a way to get to Naboo for her funeral. She has no idea what happened to him until Rebels season 2, after all, so cue the sadness...
> 
> Will you take a moment, promise me this  
> That you'll stand by me forever  
> But if God forbid fate should step in  
> And force us into a goodbye  
> If you have children someday  
> When they point to the pictures  
> Please tell them my name  
> Tell them how the crowds went wild  
> Tell them how I hope they shine  
>  _— Long Live (Taylor Swift)_

Looking up at the sky, watching as the fading sunlight painted the evening purple, Ahsoka couldn’t help but think of how lovely that colour had looked on Senator Amidala. 

Swallowing, she lowered her eyes to the ground for a moment. Even though she was standing— _hiding—_ in a crowd of mourning people in Theed, it was still hard to believe her reason for being there.

Ahsoka had seen the news on her way back to the Mandalorian capital with Rex. Padmé was dead. Her unexpected death had shocked so many—this outspoken, beloved senator, gone before her time—but even this had been overshadowed by the larger events playing out in the galaxy.

She’d told Rex she had to be there for the funeral. It was not only for her friend’s sake. She knew that if there was any chance Anakin was alive, he would find a way to Naboo. She’d been so sure she would be able to find him in the crowds, so much faith that he had survived, but as she reached out there was nothing. 

Nothing. Not even the sense she got from Padmé, the feeling of her being all around her and nowhere at the same time. There was simply nothing; a void where her master should have been.

Toying anxiously with the edge of her long cloak, she tried not to dwell on this feeling. He simply could have fled to another system and would get in contact with her soon. Anakin had thought of so many undercover failsafes and had drilled these into her over the years that she could still recite them all.

_Snips, if we’re ever separated, here’s what I want you to do…_

_Anakin,_ she thought, her brow furrowing as she tried for the umpteenth time to reach out with the Force and feel him. _Anakin, where are you?_

The Force gave her no answers. 

She didn’t want to think about what that could mean, even as her heart sank.

With the setting sun, the people around her started lighting the soft lanterns and candles they held. Ahsoka tried to stop herself from fidgeting beneath her hooded cloak. With the new light, there was a chance someone around her would be able to recognise her as a former Jedi. Togrutas were a distinctive species, after all, and it hadn’t been that long since she had been on Naboo as Padmé’s bodyguard.

She had no idea if word had gotten out about what had happened on Mandalore; whether it had been accepted that she and Rex had died in the chaos, or if she had been forgotten entirely. Most of the public’s attention seemed to be focused on the Jedi Temple, as Ahsoka had heard very quickly about the 501st marching on it under the leadership of a Sith Lord known as Darth Vader. 

It was sickening to think about Anakin’s battalion under the command of a Sith Lord, especially as she had heard rumours that he had been on Coruscant leading the Temple’s defence.

There were also rumours circulating that he had died while protecting the Jedi. Ahsoka had shied away from these at first, refusing to believe that he could have died, but as more time had passed…

If he had survived, he would have fled and then found a way to contact her. She believed this completely. There was a chance he did not even know about Padmé’s death, as apparently the senator had not died on Coruscant.

She took a deep breath. He may not be safe and able to reach out for a while. She had been a fugitive before, she knew how hard it was to avoid detection, and it was clear now that the clones would not hesitate in shooting Jedi. She just needed to be patient.

Ahsoka's eyes adjusted quickly to the evening, but even then she could see them coming from a mile away. There were thousands of lanterns lighting the streets of Naboo's capital city, allowing for Ahsoka to clearly see the white gualaar that signalled Padmé's approach. The people around her pushed closer together, trying to get a better look, and the small boats sailing in the water drifted in to watch their movement. 

The long bridge Ahsoka was standing on led to the Royal Palace, so their approach meant that the procession had just begun. She knew that Padmé's body would be taken throughout the city for the people to see before she was returned to the palace. The thought made her feel cold, and she shivered.

A respectful silence fell over the crowd as they neared, and the four gualaar pulling Padmé’s coffin were just as silent as the people around them. Nobody spoke. Nobody moved.

Everyone watched as Padmé Amidala, beloved Senator and former Queen of Naboo glided silently past them.

Ahsoka moved closer to the front of the crowd she was hiding amongst in a daze, momentarily forgetting the need to hide her face. She could see the current Queen Apailana in mourning regalia leading the procession behind Padmé, and was surprised to also see Representative Binks, head down, walking with them.

She didn’t recognise anybody else, but it didn’t matter, because the gualaar were near enough now for her to see Padmé herself.

It was like a punch in the gut to see her lying there, her open coffin giving her a clear view of her friend. She looked as though she was floating, the flowers in her long, flowing dark hair and blue of her silk dress giving off the illusion of water.

As the coffin moved closer, Ahsoka allowed herself to look away from her face and down her body, noting how peaceful she appeared. Her eyes were closed, her face serene. With a wave of guilt, she realised that the last time she had seen the senator, she had been passionately defending Ahsoka in court. It had been so long ago that it felt a whole lifetime away, back before she had walked away from the Jedi Order.

At least she was at rest now, free within the Force, she supposed, trying not to let her sadness—over Padmé, over the past week, over Anakin—overwhelm her. Not for the first time did she wonder how she had died, and she hoped she had not suffered. 

Her eyes drifted further down, and paused. Padmé’s hands were folded softly over her rounded belly, clutching a small necklace that she thought she had seen her wear many times. It was with a sudden shock, though, that Ahsoka realised as she stared that she had been pregnant.

Her mouth fell open in a gasp as she processed this, unblinking, carving this image of Padmé into her memory. She assumed that this was with Anakin's baby, her mind a mess as she thought back to her conversation with him outside the Jedi Temple, and his words that had confirmed her suspicions regarding their relationship.

Padmé had clearly not carried the child to term, and her shock turned to horror. She had died before their child had been born, dying right around the same time as Anakin himself.

She swallowed, the evil truth of her thoughts washing over her, and she had to blink rapidly to clear her blurring vision. The rumours had said he was dead, she just hadn't wanted to consciously believe it. She knew it had been a fluke that she had survived her own attack... if it hadn't been for Rex, she would probably be dead, too.

Her heart beat painfully in her chest and her breathing sped up, grief threatening to drown her. There was no need to suppress such emotions any longer. There were no more Jedi; she was no longer a Jedi. She was alone.

Biting down on her lower lip, clenching her hands so her nails dug sharply into her palms, she tried to pull herself together before she fell apart. She reached out with the Force one more time, desperate. _Anakin _—__ Skyguy _—please,_ _w_ _here are you..._

There was nothing.

As Padmé passed her and moved on, looking as beautiful in death as she had always been in life, Ahsoka felt tears welling up, unbidden, and closed her eyes. She would never see her again, she realised. She would have this memory of her, her coffin open to the purple night sky, for as long as she lived.

_I hope you’re here, somewhere, Anakin,_ she thought sadly, imagining him watching from within the Force. Her heart ached, but she pretended that he was there, even if she could not feel him. He would not have missed something as important as this. Padmé was too important to him, to both of them. 

She tried to picture him beside her, as he had been when they had talked on Mandalore; back when she hadn't known that that would be the final time she would ever see him.

The thought was too much for her to bear. She turned her head as her tears finally fell, and disappeared into the grieving crowd.


End file.
